Glossary
Work, labor rights, money, job hunting, housing — plain-language explanations of common terms.
Employment
CPF Contributions The Central Provident Fund is Singapore'… AWS (13th Month Bonus) The Annual Wage Supplement, often called… Retrenchment Benefits Retrenchment benefits are payments an em… Notice Period The notice period is the advance warning… IR8A IR8A is the annual form employers use to… Work Pass (EP / S Pass) Foreigners need a valid work pass to wor… MOM (Ministry of Manpower) The Ministry of Manpower is the governme…
Education
PSLE The Primary School Leaving Examination i… DSA (Direct School Admission) Direct School Admission lets students se… MOE (Ministry of Education) The Ministry of Education sets national … ITE / Polytechnic / JC After secondary school, students in Sing… Tuition Tuition refers to private supplementary …
Finance
CPF Accounts (OA / SA / MA) Your CPF savings are split across accoun… SRS (Supplementary Retirement Scheme) The Supplementary Retirement Scheme is a… CPF LIFE CPF LIFE is a national annuity scheme th… HDB Loan vs Bank Loan When buying an HDB flat, you generally c… GST (Goods and Services Tax) The Goods and Services Tax is a broad-ba… Income Tax & IRAS The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapor… Baby Bonus & CDA The Baby Bonus scheme supports parents w…
Housing
BTO (Build-To-Order) Build-To-Order is HDB's main way of sell… Resale HDB A resale HDB flat is one bought from an … ABSD (Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty) Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty is a tax p… HDB Grants HDB housing grants are subsidies that he… COV (Cash Over Valuation) Cash Over Valuation is the amount a resa… MOP (Minimum Occupation Period) The Minimum Occupation Period is the num… EC vs Condo An Executive Condominium is a hybrid bet…
Healthcare
MediSave MediSave is the part of your CPF set asi… MediShield Life MediShield Life is a national health ins… Integrated Shield Plan An Integrated Shield Plan is optional pr… CHAS The Community Health Assist Scheme lets … Polyclinic Polyclinics are government-subsidised pr…
National Service
National Service (NS) National Service is compulsory duty that… IPPT The Individual Physical Proficiency Test… Reservist / ICT After completing full-time National Serv… ORD (Operationally Ready Date) The Operationally Ready Date marks the d…
Transport
COE (Certificate of Entitlement) A Certificate of Entitlement is the righ… ERP (Electronic Road Pricing) Electronic Road Pricing is Singapore's s… EZ-Link EZ-Link is a stored-value contactless ca…
Government
SkillsFuture SkillsFuture is a national initiative to… Workfare The Workfare Income Supplement scheme su… GST Voucher The GST Voucher scheme helps lower- and … CDC Vouchers CDC Vouchers are digital vouchers issued…